We are now ready to read our books to you, our family. Many of these books have patterns, and it will appear that your child has memorized the book and that is exactly what we want them to do as emergent readers. Reading is about patterns and familiar sentence structures and dialogues. As your child progresses there will be less of a pattern, and the focus is on the 1:1 correspondence between written word and spoken word and fluency.

Here are some of the things that your child is learning:

·        Understanding that print carries a message

·        Directionality - print moves from left to right, top to bottom and how to make the return sweep

·        Matching voice to print- by pointing at the words when he/she is reading, under the first letter of each word

·        Recognize sight words (see word wall sheet)

·        Using the illustrations as a clue to help figure out the words

·        Using beginning/end sounds, digraphs and glued sounds to figure out words 

What you as a parent can do to support guided reading:

·        Make time to listen to the book

·        Encourage your child to point under the first letter of each word as they read them

·        Ask your child to point out some sight words on various pages

·        Encourage child to look at the illustrations before reading to remind them what it might say on the page

·        Ask some questions about the story after they have read it to see if they understand what the book was about (ex. Tell me 3 things they did at the park. (without using the book)

·        Practice fluency, when they read does it sound like they are telling a story or is it in one or two word phrases?

 A new book will go home on each Monday and be returned on Thursday. I encourage you to please read it with your child and review the  Fundations unit trick words each night. The reading books need to be taken care of and returned to school each day. Please keep in mind your child will have had practice with these books already and it may seem easy for them. Refer to the list above to keep a focus on one or two skills a night so that it becomes a habit for them. For example, rushing the reading or not looking at the words isn’t practicing the skill of one-to-one pointing or fluency. Keeping the books inside the folder will help keep them safe and dry.  Listed below are ideas you can do to help your child learn trick words. Your little people are excited to be readers and are very excited to share this skill with you!

 Exploring the Trick Words:

·        Go on a word hunt in a book

·        Read a word and write it in a sentence

·        Rhyme/Build new words. (Ex. An….Dan, ran, man)

·        Trace the word with your finger and say the letters

·        Write the word with your finger in paint or shaving cream

·        Make a memory game using the sight words (use a cereal box)

·        Hide the words around  one room of your house and “hunt” for them

·        Write the words in an egg carton, throw or shake a rock into one and read the word it landed on.

·        On paper write a word, cut it apart and put it back together

·        Flip a word over, read it and write

·        In the car, clap each letter of the word as they spell it

On a final note, remember, homework is your child’s time to shine so have fun with it! If you have questions please feel free to contact me by email or phone.

Kindly,

Crystal

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